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Civil Service Fast Stream Annual Recruitment Report 2003–04

Published by the Cabinet Office August 2004

• Introduction
  – Key Figures
  – Glossary of Fast Stream Terms
• 2003 Fast Stream Development Programme
• Diversity
• Developments during the Year

Introduction

Full set of tables to download PDF version 1.68MB

The Civil Service Fast Stream Development Programme is a training and development programme for talented graduates, who are selected on the basis of their potential to reach the Senior Civil Service. The Civil Service recruits to the Fast Stream on the basis of fair and open competition and selection on merit. Existing civil servants nominated by their departments can apply for the Fast Stream through a separate internal scheme for generalists.

The standard of entry to the to the Fast Stream remains high. This site provides information on the 2003 recruitment schemes (ie: those completed between 1st April 2003 and 31st March 2004) and summarises some of the developments during this period.

Key Figures

• Applications rose to over 20,000 – an increase of 40% compared with 2002
• Over 93% of vacancies were filled compared with 81% in 2002 and 69% in 2001
• Over 55% of those recommended for appointment to the General Fast Stream were women, continuing the trend of recent years
• Overall 3.5% of successful candidates declared a disability, compared with 3.9% in 2002. However disabled applicants were proportionally more successful than other candidates. Altogether 3.7% of Fast Stream applicants declaring a disability were recommended for appointment, compared with 2.5% of candidates overall.
• The proportion of successful candidates from ethnic minority groups fell overall, from 9.7% last year to 7.8% in 2003
• Successful candidates graduated from over 61 different universities
• There was a 10% increase in the number of successful In–Service candidates over the previous year

Glossary of Fast Stream Terms

CSSB – The Civil Service Selection Board; our assessment centre in London

QT – The Qualifying Test; the written test prior to our assessment centre

PIB – The Preliminary Interview Board; for disabled candidates who opt for interview instead of the qualifying test, or who are unsuccessful at the qualifying test.

FSB – The Final Selection Board; a final panel interview for applicants for the Diplomatic Service or Clerkships in Parliament.

Open Fast Stream – We recruited on the open market to four Fast Stream schemes in 2003: the General Fast Stream, Economists, Statisticians, and GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters)

GFS – The General Fast Stream. This includes options for posts within Central Departments, the Diplomatic Service (plus economists), European Fast Stream (plus lawyers), Parliamentary Clerkships and the Science & Engineering Fast Stream. By far the largest scheme, in places this report focuses on the GFS in particular.